


Fortress of Solitude is a Misnomer

by BiJane



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 14:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18074885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiJane/pseuds/BiJane
Summary: Kara and Nia vanish daily for training. James gets the wrong idea.Well, not that wrong.





	Fortress of Solitude is a Misnomer

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. I'm back to writing ridiculousness.

James watched out through the clear walls of his office as Kara and Nia stumbled out of the elevator together, both smiling, both laughing slightly. Nia was busy making sure a scarf would fit in her handbag, somewhat out of breath; she still beamed any time Kara looked at her.

He looked for a long few seconds. Both seemed reluctant when they had to part, saying something James couldn’t hear before heading off to wherever they needed to go to work.

By then Nia had succeeded in getting her whole scarf back in her bag. She hurried back to her desk and her giddy smile didn’t fade for minutes on end.

Huh.

That was… not unfamiliar.

* * *

 The Daily Planet had been nothing like Catco. Rather than the huge windows with light streaming in, there were tall walls and dozens upon dozens of electric lights. It had felt small, but more cosy than claustrophobic.

The one thing that wasn’t cosy was the heat. When Summer came around, only a few offices had windows to open. Even with those as open as they could be and with the AC on full everywhere else, the Planet slowly turned into an oven.

Which was why it drew a fair bit of attention when Lois strode to her desk with a bulky winter coat laying over one arm. She hung it up without a word and returned to work.

Clark stumbled in just behind her. Then, no one had given it much more thought. It was Metropolis, they were used to oddities.

The next day woolly gloves had fallen out of Lois’s bag, after Clark tripped over next to her. He made a valiant effort to stop anything going flying, but the gloves were at the top.

The day after that and Lois was adjusting her hair, bulky beanie hat in one hand, as the elevator doors opened.

“Lois?” James had asked. “How can you wear any of that when it’s this hot?”

“A good reporter has to be ready to go anywhere, Jimmy,” she’d said. “Just staying ready.”

She’d barely taken more than a second to respond. It was a far cry from when James had bumped into Clark by the coffee machine.

“Do you know why Lois is bringing scarves and winter jackets into work every day?” James had said.

“I- She- I- uh, um, why- uh, why would I know why Lois does something like that?” Clark eventually managed to get out.

“You think it’s something to do with Superman?” James had said.

Oh, those days, he’d been so oblivious, bordering on naïve. Though in his own defence it was very hard to see Clark Kent spilling coffee over himself and immediately think ‘Superman!’

“Why- uh- I- why would it be anything to do with Superman?” Clark said.

“I don’t know,” James had said. “But you notice, it started back when the Bulletin published those photos of her flying with him out of the city. Could be a connection.”

“You read the Bulletin?” Clark had said. “Careful Jimmy, don’t let Perry hear you mentioning that in here.”

He’d laughed it off, and James hadn’t given it much more thought.

Then, a few months later, Superman had needed to fly him to the Fortress of Solitude. That answered one question at least; winterwear would be pretty much required if you were making regular visits to the Arctic without a Kryptonian constitution.

When he finally heard the truth about Clark, he’d asked. That day he and Lois had arrived at work together again, Lois with her usual out-of-place winterwear.

“Why do you and Lois go to the Fortress so often?”

“I- uh- I- you know, it’s- We just- It’s, uh, it’s no big deal Jimmy,” Clark had said.

James hadn’t gotten much else out of him than that. Then there had been the business with Zod, Lois suggesting keeping him captive in the Fortress with its red solar ray generators, and then one more visit to the Fortress before James pieced it together.

Lois had known that there was a room in the Fortress where Kryptonians lost their powers. Lois and Superman regularly went to the Fortress, sometimes coming into work late. And add into that Clark’s complete and utter inability to answer a straight question and it hadn’t been hard to work out what activities Lois found easier without worrying about Superman’s incredible strength.

He hadn’t asked about it again.

* * *

Now he was James, in Catco, Superman and Lois were off the planet, and here he was with Superman’s cousin.

“Kara?” he said, calling from the door to his office.

Once she came over he shut the door behind them. Thankfully Cat Grant had invested in decent soundproofing, no one would overhear.

“You and Nia were… at the Fortress?” he said slowly.

“What? Oh, yeah, just got back,” Kara said brightly.

“I know it’s none of my business,” James said. “But you’re… close?”

“I think so,” Kara said brightly. “She’s doing great! Better each time.”

“I… don’t need to know that,” James said.

“Something wrong?” Kara said.

“Just…” James said, “Might want to be more subtle about the Arctic-suitable clothes. Lois had the same back when she and Superman were in that phase of their relationship. I don’t know how many people put it together, but just in case, people could connect Nia to Supergirl and…”

“Didn’t have time to go to her place if we wanted to make it on time,” Kara said. “I’ll remember that though, thanks!”

“Always here to help,” James said. His voice softened. “You and Nia? I’m happy for you.”

“Me too,” Kara said, beaming. “Been doing it by myself for _way_ too long now, it’s nice to have help.”

James started choking on thin air for a moment.

“That’s- ok,” he said faintly. “I… don’t need to know everything. Good luck to both of you though.”

“Thanks!” Kara said brightly.

* * *

James glanced out through the wall again when the elevator pinged. Kara and Nia were still on time, mostly, but there hadn’t been any unexpected scarves or jumpers sneaking into view. Either they’d dropped them off elsewhere or made hiding them better more of a priority.

Either way it worked. So they were at least subtle on those grounds.

Kara and Nia walking into the office together every day, with Nia often out of breath, on the other hand… Though at least that didn’t run the risk of outing a connection to Supergirl.

They were adults. They knew what they were doing, it was up to them how obvious they wanted to be.

He smiled to himself. It was a funny kind of nostalgia, James reflected, the Super and their girlfriend coming into work. Lois had admittedly carried it off a bit better, a confident smirk and an utter lack of awkwardness, but there was no denying the glow that radiated off Nia.

Who was he to begrudge them a few late arrivals? Admittedly he wouldn’t have called Kara or Nia being nearly as active as Clark and Lois with their daily visits to and from the Fortress, but whatever worked for them.

After a few minutes Nia came into his office, giving her usual update on her writing. James made a mental note of most of it; it was the progress he’d expected.

Even if she did seem slightly more tired than usual throughout.

“Are you ok?” James said. “We can manage if you need to take a day off, looks like you could do with a break.”

“N-no,” Nia said. She shook her head. “Kara’s just working me hard, that’s all.”

“I… can’t help with that,” James said, slightly strained. “Just… try not to let it get in the way of the rest of your lives.”

“Definitely not,” Nia said. “It’s just a lot to get used to.”

“I can imagine,” James said.

“I didn’t think I could physically _do_ some of what she’s taught me,” Nia said. She smiled to herself. “It’s amazing.”

Why did the two of them need to be so… effusive?! It took a second for James to find his voice.

“I… that’s… good?” he said.

He really wouldn’t have expected either of them to be that… forthcoming. At least Clark and Lois had managed excuses, even if they were occasionally terrible.

Lois spinning a story about how a lead had offered her a scoop if she went with them right that second to a ski resort was a little easier to bear than Kara and Nia feeling the need to keep sharing details.

“Hey!” Kara ducked into the office. “Nia, are you free after work today?”

“Definitely!” Nia said. She grinned.

Oh this was…

“Look,” James said. “I’m happy for both of you. Really. But can you _please_ not keep bringing your sex life into the work place?!”

There was a pause. Kara and Nia both turned to him, their expressions rather impressive mirrors of one another. A slight frown, a slight flush, a general look of incomprehension.

James hesitated. What- Kara had said, she’d said-

“Uh,” Kara said slowly.

“What?!” Nia squeaked.

“You- you said-” James said, suddenly less certain of himself. “The visits to the Fortress, the two of you…”

“It’s training!” Nia said hastily. “Not- Just training, helping me use my powers. The Fortress is the best place for it.”

“But,” James said. He hesitated. “Clark and Lois, when they kept going to the Fortress they were… I thought…”

“Clark?” Nia said. Her eyes went wide.

“Clark did _what_ in the Fortress?!” Kara yelped.

“Clark Kent is Superman?!” Nia said in almost the exact same tone.

James blinked.

“There’s the room with the red solar ray generator,” James said. “They used… I thought that’s why you were… training. Right. Training.”

“Just training!” Nia said quickly.

“I’m not Clark,” Kara said indignantly. “I can control myself, we’ve _never_ needed to go to the Fortress for that!”

 There was a slightly longer pause. Kara suddenly flushed.

“O-ok,” James said.

Nia squeaked.  


End file.
